The fine details of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ eventual 53-man roster and how those pieces will be used are far from clear this far out from the start of the regular season. There is probably a bit more ambiguity this year than most, in fact, given the more extensive than normal personnel turnover.
Yet most people seem pretty confident that the team will carry four tight ends on the 53 this year—insofar as second-year Connor Heyward is viewed as a tight end, among other things. In fact, former Steelers QB Charlie Batch believes they not only carry four but find ways to use them all.
“I think they probably could, and here’s how they can do that”, he said on Steelers Training Camp All-Access, from the team’s YouTube channel. “When you look at what Connor Heyward brings to the table, yes, he played predominantly at tight end last year, but you do have a fullback option with him, so you’re using him in that H-back capacity, but you now have three other tight ends”.
The Steelers drafted Darnell Washington in the third round in April yet retained all three of their tight ends from last season. Heyward was drafted in 2022, joining Pat Freiermuth and Zach Gentry, who were already established in their places.
Heyward, a sixth-round pick, ended up with 175 offensive snaps played last season. You might be interested to know that 123 of those snaps came in-line, according to Pro Football Focus, as a tight end, though that also includes motion plays and things like that. He is a player that can be used in a variety of ways, with the fullback role in his arsenal likely for 2023.
“It gives Matt Canada options in this particular perspective but doing that and knowing that you elevate that run game”, Batch said. “Man, this is gonna be something that I look forward to because maybe that opens up that play-action game”.
Pittsburgh has employed a fullback by name more consistently than almost any other team in the league, minus the Bruce Arians offensive coordinator years. After the David Johnson and Will Johnson phases, we got five years of Roosevelt Nix and the past three with Derek Watt.
The Steelers did not re-sign Watt this offseason, however, and their only other true fullback on the roster, undrafted rookie Monte Pottebaum, has already retired. They have begun to experiment with interior offensive lineman Kendrick Green taking some snaps as a fullback, which has been…an adventure. Especially for one unfortunate undrafted rookie linebacker who seems to keep winding up on the wrong end of him.
Without a true fullback on the roster, however, and little depth at running back beyond their top three, it seems at this point a rather safe bet that they will manage to carry all four tight ends and tight-end-like bodies. The bigger question, though, is how or if they manage to figure out how to use them all. Gentry might want to get working on his special teams skills if he plans to dress late in the season.
